Essentials you need to make your business into a global success story

Never before have we been so connected to the rest of the world. With the imminent development of the Internet of Things and the impact this will have on global connectivity, there has never been a more fitting time for successful businesses to try and hit the global stage.

We consider the essentials needed by any business planning to take this brave step into the global marketplace.

#1 Optimised, translated website

To be a success in your own country, you will probably have a highly functioning, streamlined website with quality content and photography to demonstrate your products or services.

To take this success across to whichever countries you approach next, you will need to make sure that the translated version of the site is well written. Although English is widely spoken, residents of other countries may not fully understand the finer details, and offering the option to read text in their native language will encourage more people to visit the site.

Deciding on which languages to translate into depends really on where you plan to sell, and as many languages as possible will help to increase your reach.

As well as considering the translation of words, an important factor to remember here is also the translation of all measurements. Where one country may use metric, another may use imperial.

Your website will be a lot more user friendly if you have calculated these differences for your customers, and figured out localised currencies too.

Finally, on translation, it is important to bear in mind cultural differences, in order to ensure you don’t offend any potential customers. For example, the number four in China, Korea and Japan is bad luck and sets are often grouped into three or five.

A thumbs up symbol is offensive to Muslims, whereas it means everything is going well to a Brit.

#2 A reliable international courier

There are ever changing tax laws surrounding selling overseas and you will need to be clued up on where you can deliver which items, value limits, weight limits and any other restrictions.

Employing the services of a reputable and reliable international courier takes some of the stress out of shipping and ensures that everything is above the law, as well as arriving on time.

These services can also be useful for the timely delivery of signed documents where necessary.

#3 Offer diverse payment options

As payment becomes increasingly contactless, it is important to offer as many local options as possible to all clients globally. Paypal is one way to ensure that no bank transfers need to in place and is widely accepted globally.

Google, Apple and Android have all adapted to offer their own contactless payment services, which make purchasing through mobile phones a simple and smooth transaction. In addition, you will need to set up international banking methods for card payments to be made in local currencies.

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